With its first official single finally seeing the light of day, Lupe Fiasco's Tetsuo & Youth is now in full-on pre-release season, with the rapper delivering interviews about the project to whip us into a frenzy of anticipation. His latest, as heard on Sway In The Morning, gives clues about its release date and gives us a more complete picture of the album's tracklist.

It looks like cooler heads have prevailed in the Ab-Soul album saga. A couple days ago, we heard Ab-Soul threaten to leak his own album, but that was before TDE president, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, responded by daring any of his TDE rappers to do such a thing. Today, it come out that everything was a big misunderstanding as the TDE president cleared the air, and even revealed some other news.

Ab-Soul began 2014 a little roughly with the frustrating delay of his forthcoming album These Days..., but after threatening to leak the project earlier this month, it seems like he's patched things up with his label.

When hip-hop began, samples were all that DJs and producers had to construct instrumental tracks with. They'd dig through crates of vinyl trying to find isolated drum breaks, melodies or vocals that they could repurpose for use in hip-hop music. Today, sampling has become less common, but a choice sample can still push a track from lukewarm to hot faster than you can say "uh-huh honey".

It appears fans won't have to wait too much longer for Ab-Soul’s debut album These Days... After announcing the title last week, Top Dawg CEO, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, is fed up of fans constantly bothering him about the release date, therefore he’s allowing you, the fans, to choose for him. No seriously.

It's been three months since TDE's Ab-Soul confirmed he had turned over two projects to the label. Since that time, Soulo also confirmed he'd been working on another project, Longterm 3, however we've received no new updates on the albums he finished.

When hip-hop began, samples were all that DJs and producers had to construct instrumental tracks with. They'd dig through crates of vinyl trying to find isolated drum breaks, melodies or vocals that they could repurpose for use in hip-hop music. Today, sampling has become less common, but a choice sample can still push a track from lukewarm to hot faster than you can say "uh-huh honey".

It's been close to two years since we got a new project from Ab-Soul, but the TDE rapper told us in January that his official follow-up to Control System was "turned in," and now he's revealed that a new mixtape is also coming soon. Taking to Twitter early this morning, the MC tweeted:
I've already begun #LT3 as well...

Smoke DZA fans have seen the Harlem rapper’s growth from his last few projects. He went from hard-hitting straight-laced lyrics in George Kush Da Button to a street storyteller in Rugby Thompson. Back with the long awaited and highly anticipated Dream.ZONE.Achieve, DZA sets out to prove that he has a lot more to talk about than just marijuana.

When hip-hop began, samples were all that DJs and producers had to construct instrumental tracks with. They'd dig through crates of vinyl trying to find isolated drum breaks, melodies or vocals that they could repurpose for use in hip-hop music. Today, sampling has become less common, but a choice sample can still push a track from lukewarm to hot faster than you can say "uh-huh honey".

Top Dawg Entertainment, or TDE for short, is one of the biggest success stories in hip-hop in recent memory. Founded in 2004 by Anthony Tiffith, the label didn't release its first mixtape until 2008, and its first album until 2010, but since then, has reached commercial and critical heights the likes of which most other independent labels couldn't imagine.

Dissecting the foibles of the hip hop community as expressed in under 140 characters on Twitter. Not just used as a device to flood people's timelines with your new track, album, video, or clothing line, sometimes rappers truly channel the unfiltered interaction with fans.
Each week we take a look at some of the most memorable twitter moments from some of the genres biggest personalities.

ScHoolboy Q has kept the "Druggys Wit Hoes" theme going over the years, with the first collaboration with his Black Hippy counterpart Ab-Soul arriving on his Setbacks album, and then a second edition, "Druggys Wit Hoes Again", also featuring Soulo, appearing on his last LP Habits & Contradictions. However with the newest release, Oxymoron, we found no Ab-Soul nor "Druggys Wit Hoes" to be found.

When we first heard about Ab-Soul's upcoming project, the rapper clarified that the effort would not bear the title Black Lip Pastor as many assumed from his tweets. Now it appears that he may have reconsidered, as the TDE camp has confirmed that BLP is coming soon.

Earlier today we heard about collaborations between renowned producer The Alchemist and Slug of Atmosphere. The Alchemist is definitely one of the hardest working producers in the game, as it seems like he constantly has some project or another (or multiple) on his plate. It appears as though one of those projects is with Ab-Soul.

Fans have been patiently awaiting a new Ab-Soul project since 2012's Control System, and while 2013 passed by without one, Ab may be making up for it by releasing two new efforts in the new year.
The TDE rapper hinted at some new music on Twitter last night, saying "I turned in 2 projects last year, yea I know what your thinking, let's see where this year takes me...".

Ab-Soul's following continues to grow, despite his lack of releases since 2012's dense Control System. In an interview with the Miami New Times, Soulo explained why the project continues to gain him followers, as well as speaking on the blatant honesty that comes with refraining from writing rhymes down, and the knowledge he's been able to acquire through listening to hip hop alone.
Read some excerpts from the sit-down below.

Stunning. If Jhene Aiko wasn't already a household name, she ought to be by now. The 25-year-old singer has appeared on numerous hip-hop tracks throughout the year, most notably Drake's "From Time", J. Cole's "Sparks Will Fly", and Big Sean’s radio smash "Beware". Sail Out* is Jhene’s first major label EP, and what a debut it is. The seven-track Extended Play is smoked out, dreamy and romantic.

While rolling in a pretty tight-knit crew, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock couldn't be more different. While Jay Rock favors mean-mug west-coast street rap, Soulo is known to create smoked-out, conspiracy theory-laden cuts. They've certainly learned a lot from one another however, detailing their dynamic in a new interview with XXL, as well as commenting on the concept of "rapping for fun," and their upcoming projects.
Read some excerpts from the sit down below.